Celeste tilted her head. “They wouldn’t have recognized illness in a man like Henri unless he collapsed onto a donor.”
“That would at least improve some of those meetings,” Dominic murmured.
Celeste smiled into her glass.
At nine, she rose. “I’ve done my part for civilization. The rest is up to all of you.”
Dominic accompanied her to the front hall. I gathered the last of the dessert dishes. By the time I dried my hands and joined them at the door, Celeste had her keys in hand. She kissed Dominic’s cheek.
“Try not to become operatic,” she said.
“I never do.”
“That is simply false.”
Then she turned to me, and while Dominic straightened his cuff and Thiago leaned in the doorway behind us, she whispered, “He’s paying attention, mon cher. Don’t make him pay it from a distance.”
She was gone before I could respond.
Behind me, Thiago asked, “Everything alright?”
I closed the door. “Yes.”
By the time Dominic was ready to retire, the kitchen was clean, with leftovers in the fridge, and the lemon trees checked for water. The late-August heat had not broken.
He paused at the threshold on his way to the stairs. “The Burgundy was well chosen.”
“She rarely makes a mistake.”
“Mm.” He glanced once between Thiago and me. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” I said.
Thiago echoed it half a second later.
I reached for the Burgundy bottle and found enough wine for two shallow pours. I handed Thiago a glass without asking. He took it and leaned back against the counter.
“What did Celeste tell you at the door?” he asked.
“That you’re paying attention.” I rested my hip against the opposite counter. “And that I shouldn’t make you pay it from a distance.”
“Do you usually take her advice?”
“Only when it’s annoying.”
“Was that?”
“Yes.”
Thiago swirled the wine in his glass. “You’ve been in this kitchen all day.”
“I’ve been working.”
I looked at his shirt, sleeves rolled and collar open at the throat. It was one of the three he’d brought with him to New Orleans. They stretched slightly across his muscular chest, and he wore them neatly tucked.
I set my glass down .
He watched me cross the kitchen toward him. I rested a hand on the front of his shirt. He tensed slightly before leaning in.
